Copy holders



" "'ij @Qialiflili July 9, 1957' H. E. LUCAS 2,798,783

cosy HOLDERS Filed NOV. 18, 1954 I INVENTOR HARRY E LUCAS ATTORNEY United States Patent COPY HOLDERS Harry E. Lucas, Grand Rapids, Mich. Application November 18, 1954, Serial No. 469,735 2 Claims. 01. 312184) This invention relates to filing devices and more particularly to a device for filing copy in a newspaper oflice in such a manner that it is both easily located and readily removable.

No successful system for filing copy such as the original copy and the proofs of newspaper material, particularly advertising, has ever been developed. Heretofore this material has been stored by being stabbed on a hook. With this arrangement, the copy is substantially impossible to locate because all the items are crowded together. The individual items are practically impossible to separate sufliciently to ascertain which is which. Further, in separating the copy to find one particular piece, the copy becomes torn and damaged and often is lost. Further, if the particular piece of copy desired is deep on the hook, all of the pieces of copy in front of it must be removed in order to obtain it. This results in further damage to the material.

My invention eliminates this difficulty by making it possible to quickly and easily indentify each piece of copy. Once identified, the copy may be quickly removed without the necessity of removing any other piece of copy and without damage to the other pieces of copy. This invention accomplishes these purposes by a simple, relatively inexpensive and durable mechanism.

Other objects and purposes of my invention will be immediately seen by those acquainted with the filing of printed newspaper material upon reading the following specification and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an oblique view of a cabinet designed to incorporate my invention.

Fig. 2 is an oblique plan view of one section of the cabinet illustrating a typical example of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, side elevation View of the copy holder mechanism of my invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, oblique view of the mounting for one portion of my copy holder.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, plan view of the lmount appearing in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation view of the copy holding rod in open position.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, plan View of the copy holding rod in closed position.

In executing the objects and purposes of my invention, I have provided a rod divided in half with both ends being firmly mounted. The forward portion of the rod is permanently fixed while the rearward portion of the rod may be pivoted about its mounting. The ends of the rod at the point where they are split are designed to overlap so that the fixed front portion of the rod will support the front end of the pivoted rear portion of the rod which is normally held in engagement with the front portion of the rod by a spring.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the numeral 1 refers to a cabinet having a lower storage portion 2 and an upper filing portion 3. The cabinet is preferably di- Vided into a number of sections, each section designed to store the copy for one particular day. Each section' is equipped with a rod means for storing the copy material. This means is the basis of my invention. Since each of the sections is identical in this respect, it is only necessary to describe one of the sections such as is illustrated in Fig. 2.

The cabinet 1 is of such height that the operator may view the contents from above. For this purpose the top of the cabinet is open. The cabinet has a rigid back panel 4 and a rigid front panel 5. These panels may be of any suitable material such as wood, metal or plastic. To the front panel 5 there is secured the forward portion 6 of the filing rod 7. The forward rod portion 6 is secured to a plate 8 which in turn is mounted to the front panel 5 by suitable means such as screws. forward rod portion 6 is permanently fixed to the plate 8 and thus is stationary. The rearward portion 10 of the filing rod 7 is pivotally mounted to the back panel 4 by means of the ball and socket 11 and 12 respectively. The ball 11 is rigidly afiixed to the end of the rearward rod portion 10. The socket 12 has associated with it a mount ing plate 13 adapted to be rigidly aflixed to the back panel 4 by suitable means such as the screws 14.

The rearward portion 10 of the filing rod 7 is urged downwardly by a spring 15, one end of which is secured to the rearward rod portion 10 and the other end to the back panel 4 at a point below the socket 12.

The filing rod 7 is split at 20 adjacent its center, thus forming the forward portion 6 and the rearward portion 10. The split 20 is best illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. The forward rod portion 6 is provided with a wedgeshaped and forwardly inclined tongue 21 while the rearward rod portion 10 is provided with a rearwardly and downwardly sloped pocket 22 designed to firmly seat the tongue 21. The shape of the tongue 21 and of the pocket 22 cause the forward rod portion 6 to support the rearward rod portion 10 and limit its downward movement. The tongue and pocket should be made to relatively close tolerances so that when the two are engaged and the rods aligned they form a smooth joint having no tendency to snag the copy papers as they are moved across the joint.

When this invention is applied to a newspaper oflice, the copy 30 is. frequently a full size page of a newspaper. This paper is folded in four and an identification tag 31 is secured to it. The identification tag is preferably of a fairly sturdy and rigid paper material and is provided with a hole 32 for receiving the filing rod 7. The tags 31 are designed to stand a substantial distance above the rod. Identifying information is placed on the upper portions of these tags where it is readily accessible and visible to an operator searching through the file from above. To locate a particular item of copy, the operator, instead of having to inspect the copy itself, identifies it by the information placed on the tag. Further, the tag, being of a somewhat heavier material, provides support for the copy and takes the normal wear incident to the copy being pushed back and forth along the rod 7.

When a piece of copy is to be removed, the operator searches through the tags to identify the piece of copy. Then that piece of copy is moved toward the split joint 20 in the rod. The joint is opened by pulling the rear rod portion 10 upwardly as illustrated in Fig. 6 and the piece of copy slipped through the resulting gap. Upon release of the rearward rod portion 10, it automatically reengages the front rod portion 6, locking the remaining copy in place. Thus, any piece of copy no matter where it may be located along the rod 7 may quickly and easily be removed through the split 20 without necessitating the removal of any other piece of copy on the rod. The rod 7, of course, is designed to be long enough to not only hold the expected quantity of copy but to allow for The considerable freedom of movement of the copy along the red iii enter mat each item of easy may be 'aligiid with the split 20 without the necessity of removing any other items of copy. J I

I have described my inverition with the" statidr'iafy portion of the rodforw'ar'dL This is apreferred arrangement because it permits the" c'opy reb'e removed by a forward mov'einent thron'g'li the spin 2'0".' However, it win j be recogniied that the rod portions can be reversed and I the movable rod portion placed in the'forward' position.

It will be recogniie'd that other modifications of my iriventionrnay'be rii'ad'ej witholit departing from its principles. Snclimodifications are to be considered as inchided in the hereinafter appended clair'ns pnless these claims bytheir' language expressly state otherwise.

1'. A' cabinet re; filing thin' sheet-like articles comprising: side panels, a rigid vertical'front panel, a rigid vertical bacli' panel, the top edg'e o'fsaid panels terminating at a level sh'fliciently low to enable an average height personto view the contents from above; the topmarginal edges of said panels defining an unobstructed opening extending therebetween for receiving said articles; a stationary arrnsecured to one of said front or rear panels and extending toward said other front or rear panel; a movable arm pivotally secured to said other panel for vertical movement, said movable arm extendingtoward said other panel and adaptedto engage and interfit the free end of said stationary arm; said movable and sesame arms Bang-axially alig'fie'd' when their fids" are interfitted.

2. A cabinet for filing thin, sheet-like articles comprising: side panels, a rigid vertical front panel, a rigid vertical back panel, the top edge of said panels terminating at a level suificiently low to enable an average height person to view the contents from above; the top mar- References Cited in the file or this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,014,021 Niebling Jan; 9, 1 912- 2201903; Mob'ns June 25, 1940 2,519,192 Linc'ke" Aug. 15, 1950 2,622,743 Ross" Dec'. 23, 1952 FOREIGN" PATENTS 336,014- France Feb. 24, 1904 

